As mentioned above The Precision 5530 mobile workstation, developer edition is certified for RHEL 7.5 and the needed drivers will be included in the distro. That being said, the NVIDIA drivers that come with 7.5 are inbox drivers. We will be posting drivers for all graphic cards that will include professional features not included in the inbox drivers. Stay tuned

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31 Responses to Dell Precision 5530 Developer Edition Now Available!

Hi, I’m looking to buy either this one or the 7530 in the next couple of days.

Does Dell ship any extra software or drivers on the preinstalled? If I want to ever reinstall Ubuntu (for example to clone an old installation from another machine), should I add any package repositories for drivers / extra Dell configuration to get the same hardware support and settings?

Does Dell’s preinstalled Ubuntu differ in any way from a version of Ubuntu downloaded from ubuntu.com?

I would like to receive the same info. I had to order the Precision 5530 before it got Ubuntu as an installation option. However, now running it with Ubuntu. So I would love to get my hands on the right drivers (to make my laptop a bit more stable as it does not behave such completely yet).

Also, as Ubuntu 16.04 is a supported OS, I would like to know how I can update laptop firmwares and the TB16 dock firmware using it… I tried ‘fwupd’, but it does not really support the Precision 5530 and TB16 updates on Ubuntu 16.04 (need Ubuntu 18.04 for that)..

Hi Michelle,
Apologies for the delay. The official Dell Ubuntu installer, including all the extras can be downloaded from the Drivers and Downloads section of dell.com/support, as long as Ubuntu was on the original system configuration/order. I’ll check with the Ubuntu team to see if they recommend specific package repositories for a bare-metal install and post them here and on the Linux Developers Edition forum on dell.com.
Thanks!
Geoff
#iworkatdell

This is great news. I want to order the 5530 with RHEl 7.5 but I do not see how to get it on the Dell website, only Windows and Ubuntu are OS choices. Do I order with Ubuntu and then install RHEL 7.5 myself? Please advise.

Keep up the great work of offering linux on these Dell laptops. Dell has earned a great deal of goodwill from me in supporting Linux offerings on their laptops.

Hi linuxdba,
The current method for RHEL is we certify, but don’t pre-install. Yes, it will definitely work. No, it’s not pre-installed. 😦
Feel free to order whatever configuration that suits you, we have many customers that order with Windows (so they have a license for W10), then either wipe it or dual boot… or order Ubuntu and install RHEL. Choice is good!
Thanks,
Geoff
#iworkatdell

Nice! Any chance of a high-end (i.e. Core i9-8950HK or Xeon 2176M) version without a dedicated GPU?
As a developer I want as much CPU performance (and memory) as possible, but I have zero use for a dedicated GPU, it’s only creating heat and draining the battery and taking up space that could be used for a bigger battery.

“We are happy to announce that the LAST of the Ubuntu-based Precision” Does this mean after this that Dell is not going to offer ubuntu on the precision line anymore or does this mean it’s just the latest precision with ubuntu? (FYI I have a 5510 and love it)

Hi Chris, I was referring to the Precision 5530 as being the last the xx30 line. (There are four systems that make up the line, and the 3530, 7530 and 7730 which became available over the last few months). Thanks for the question

I just bought a Windows based 5530 because I still can’t get away from Windows for work. However, as soon as it arrives I’ll be installing Linux to dual boot, so you count that as 1 more sale for Project Sputnik, because that was the deciding factor in my choice of laptop!

Looking forward to you releasing the “inbox” drivers for direct installation.

Well, that’s a pity… You are on your own (as I am, I am in the same boat). Dell won’t help you with this, once a Windows laptop it will be that forever (that’s Dell’s opinion apparently).

I am running this laptop on Ubuntu, however have to restart daily because the system freezes upon wake-up or login. Just don’t expect any help from Dell, they have the money in the pocket already and don’t see a need to help their customers..

Hi sergpolly,
The quality and performance of touch-only drivers and support (such as a 2-in-1 in tablet mode) isn’t quite where Dell would like it to be with Linux at this time, but it’s definitely being worked on.
Stay tuned….
Geoff
#iworkatdell

Hi Barney,
All the drivers for Ubuntu come on the ISO posted on the Dell Drivers and Downloads page, but all the drivers/firmware/packages make it upstream into the repositories. Now which repositories you’re downloading from might make a difference, but Linux doesn’t move as quickly as some other alternative OSes.
#iworkatdell
Geoff

Hi Arjen,
Sorry you’ve having problems… but you’re not on your own. Just because Dell won’t support your config doesn’t mean there aren’t hundreds of other folks in the Linux community with advice or answers. Reach out to me if you get stuck.
#iworkatdell
Geoff

Thanks for your offer to help. I got my laptop stable finally by upgrading to an Ubuntu 18.04 variant (Elementary Juno to be specific) and configure it as described here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_XPS_15_9570 (disabling nouveau and configuring sleep mode).

Now it does no longer consume much battery during sleep and freeze while resume from sleep. Only issue left is that when I connect to my TB16 dock before or right after resuming from sleep my laptop freezes with a lot of errors in my syslog like:
[drm:intel_wait_ddi_buf_idle [i915]] *ERROR* Timeout waiting for DDI BUF C idle bit
and
[drm:intel_dp_set_idle_link_train [i915]] *ERROR* Timed out waiting for DP idle patterns